Jets Country

Jets' Marcus Maye Suffered Season-Ending Achilles Injury in Loss to Colts

New York Jets safety Marcus Maye will miss the rest of the 2021 season with a torn Achilles. Maye suffered the Achilles injury against the Indianapolis Colts

Max Goodman

Marcus Maye's season is over.

The veteran safety, and leader of New York's secondary, left Thursday night's game with what was originally described as a calf injury.

After the game, however, Jets head coach Robert Saleh revealed the injury was to Maye's Achilles. The following morning, Saleh confirmed that Maye has a tear and will miss the remainder of the 2021 season.

"You look at that secondary and he's the vet," Saleh told reporters on Thursday night. "You've got a lot of second-year and first-year players in that back end and Marcus was that settling force back there. Obviously a heck of a football player. I'm more concerned for Marcus than I am for what we'll do defensively to try and fill that void. He's a fantastic young man. He's done everything we've asked him to do. I'm sick for him."

Considering Maye is in a contract year, playing under a franchise tag in 2021, this injury is a gut-wrenching blow for a player that was fighting to prove he deserved a bigger contract at this level.

Further, for a defense that has allowed 500-plus yards of offense in two of the last three weeks, losing Maye is a significant loss. Maye finishes the year with 46 tackles, four tackles for loss, two passes defended and one sack over six games. Only linebacker C.J. Mosley has more tackles this season on New York's defense.

"It would definitely be a big blow, mainly because of the leadership he has on the field," Mosley said Thursday after New York's 45-30 loss in Indianapolis. "I hope he's okay. That's definitely a tough one."

Maye fell to the turf with nobody around him in the secondary, staying down on the ground until a visit from trainers. The unfortunate reality is that this Jets training staff has plenty of experience working with players that tore their Achilles between the lines.

Both defensive lineman Carl Lawson and rookie linebacker Jamien Sherwood are out for the year with the same injury. Lawson suffered his Achilles tear during a joint practice in the preseason. Sherwood's injury occurred during the Jets' blowout loss to the Patriots. 

Mosley added, from personal experience, that injuries are a "tough part of this business" when prospective contracts are on the line. It's bigger than the game now, though. Mosley assured he would be there for Maye through it all as they'll still be brothers and teammates no matter what happens next in the safety's professional career.

"I'm sure he's got a lot of emotions right now," Mosley said. "I'm sure football is definitely not what he's thinking about. I want him to have a speedy recovery. It's tough when these kinds of decisions are being made, players just want to be on the field with their brothers giving it their all."

On Friday morning, Saleh added that nobody is hurting more for Maye than New York's coaching staff and the safety's teammates. That being said, Saleh believes that Maye's story in the National Football League isn't over.

"He is made of grit. His ride is not over," Saleh said. "If there's anyone that's going to be able to come back from this and go make what he deserves, it's Marcus."

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Jets for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. He also covers the New York Yankees, publisher  of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Yankees site, Inside The Pinstripes. Before starting out with SI, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. While at school, Goodman gathered valuable experience as an anchor and reporter on NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. Goodman previously interned at MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman and connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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